by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
By Arul Louis,
New York : US President Donald Trump has called on the Congress to come together to enact sweeping immigration reforms that introduce a merit-based system while ending the inflow of extended family members and building a wall to safeguard the borders.
In his first State of the Union address to the Congress on Tuesday night in Washington, Trump offered to legalise those who were brought into the country illegally as children and ultimately give them citizenship, while cracking down on criminal gangs as part of his reform package to “bring our immigration system into the 21st century”.
Trump did not directly touch on the temporary H1-B visas that are given to professionals, which has become a contentious issue with India. His administration is tightening the scrutiny of the issuance of the visas and he has in the past criticised the system saying it affected American workers.
There was only a passing mention of protecting American workers and of immigration policies that focus on the best interests of American workers and American families in the speech.
“It is time to begin moving towards a merit-based immigration system — one that admits people who are skilled, who want to work, who will contribute to our society and who will love and respect our country,” he said to cheers and applause from Republicans and their supporters, while Democrats sat quietly.
Currently, Indian professionals have a 11-year wait to get their permanent resident status with green cards because of national quota restrictions. A purely merit-based system like those in Canada and Australia, which the administration has proposed, has the potential to help Indians get them sooner.
Trump said that the focus would be on the nuclear family and “chain migration” of brothers, sisters and parents of immigrants would be ended. Limiting immigration to only spouses and children of immigrants would affect other aspiring immigrants from India.
The Democrats have made legalising those brought illegally into the US as children — referred to as “Dreamers” — as a condition for cooperating with the Trump administration.
The President offered in his speech a pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million “Dreamers”, which he said is three times more than the numbers offered by previous administrations. “Those who meet education and work requirements and show good moral character will be able to become full citizens of the US,” he said.
It is estimated that over 5,500 Indian “Dreamers” in danger of deportation when the current programme ends in March could benefit if they are given a permanent reprieve with the possibility of gaining citizenship.
Preventing illegal immigration would require building a wall on the southern border with Mexico and hiring more immigration and border security personnel, Trump said.
In the audience with his family were the parents of two girls who were murdered by members of a notorious Central American gang known as MS-13. He called out to the tearful parents, who received a standing ovation, as he spoke of cracking down on the gang made up of many who came in as unaccompanied minors when Barack Obama was President under a liberal programme he put in place.
“Crucially, our plan closes the terrible loopholes exploited by criminals and terrorists to enter our country — and it finally ends the dangerous practice of ‘catch and release’ under which those who are apprehended by law enforcement are freed,” he said.
(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Washington : Faith groups protested on Friday against ongoing efforts by the Donald Trump administration to institute a ban on travel by residents of a number of Muslim-majority countries.
The demonstration in New York’s Washington Square Park took place a year after Trump’s first executive order setting out the ban, which has been blocked by the courts.
The US Supreme Court has agreed to decide the legality of the latest version of Trump’s ban, which affects residents from six countries instead of the original seven.
It pits an administration that considers the restrictions necessary for Americans’ security against challengers who claim it is illegally aimed at Muslims and stems from Trump’s campaign call for a “complete shutdown of Muslims” entering the US. The policy blocks entry into the US of most people from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen.
The justices plan to hear arguments in April and issue a final ruling by late June on a Trump policy that has repeatedly been blocked and struck down in the lower courts. On Friday protesters linked arms around a group of Muslim demonstrators who knelt to pray in Washington Square Park.
Rev Dr. Chloe Breyer, from the Interfaith Centre of New York, told Huffington Post: “It’s practically important and symbolically important to stand with people of different faith traditions. It’s what we should do as Americans.”
Trump’s first travel ban was issued almost a year ago, almost immediately after he took office, and was aimed at seven countries.
It triggered chaos and protests across the US as travelers were stopped from boarding international flights and detained at airports for hours. Trump tweaked the order after the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit refused to reinstate the ban.
The next version, unveiled in March, dropped Iraq from the list of covered countries and made it clear the 90-day ban covering Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen did not apply to those travelers who already had valid visas. It also dropped language that would give priority to religious minorities. Critics said the changes did not erase the legal problems with the ban.
The same appeals courts that are evaluating the current policy agreed with the challengers. The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond said the ban “drips with religious intolerance, animus, and discrimination.” The San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Trump violated immigration law.
The Supreme Court allowed the ban to take partial effect but said those with a claim of a “bona fide” relationship with someone in the US could not be kept out of the country. Grandparents, cousins and other relatives were among those who could not be excluded.
But the high court said lower courts were wrong to apply the same limits to the new policy, at least while it is being appealed. The justices did not explain their brief order.
The third version is permanent, unlike the other two, and the administration said it is the product of a thorough review by several agencies of how other countries’ screen their own citizens and share information with the U.S.
Solicitor General Noel Francisco said in court papers that the policy is well within the President’s “broad authority to suspend or restrict the entry of aliens outside the United States when he deems it in the Nation’s interest.”
In response, the challengers said the policy violates the Constitution because it is biased against Muslims and also violates immigration law. The new version continues “the same unlawful policy” that was struck down by lower courts last year, lawyer Neal Katyal said in his brief on behalf of the challengers.
—SM/UNA-OIC
